The film follows the story of barbershop quartet baritone Robb Topolski. In 2007 Robb proved that Comcast was blocking peer-to-peer uploads. What makes this an engaging film isn’t the Internet technology and policies illustrated in it, but the human story that weaves theses issues together. I won’t spoil the film with the details, but Robb’s parallel personal story is a large part of what makes this film work.

The film faced a challenge in the fluid nature of the topics it covers. In December of 2009 Comcast and NBC Universal announced plans for a merger. In January of 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission that corporations have a First Amendment right to fund independent political broadcasts in candidate elections. In April of 2010 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the FCC overstepped its bounds when they tried to regulate how Comcast could mange its network. The directors attempted to address these recent events with an updated cut of the film.

Barbershop Punk is a great primer on network neutrality issues. While the film clearly has a bias in favor of network neutrality, we hear from many different voices and perspectives throughout the film. I highly recommend that you watch it if you get a chance.